Beading tool for boiler flues



1929- J. R. F URST ENBURG BEADING TOOL FOR BOILER FLUES Original Filed May 2. 1928 a am'es 1E Furs fenbard Patented Dec. 3, 1929 UNITED STATES JAMES R. FURSTENBURG, OF CUMBERLAND, MARYLAND IBEAIJING TOOL FOR BOILER. BLUES Application filed May 2, 1928, Serial No. 274,614. Renewed October 11, 1929.

This invention relates to tools, and more particularly to a heading tool by means of which the ends of a boiler flue or tube may be rolled outwardly and formed into a re- 5 taining head to engage the head of a boiler and retain the tube firmly in place.

At the presenttime it is customary when forming a bead upon a boiler flue to first employ a mall or mallet and strike the projecting out end of a boiler flue successive blows about its circumference so that the walls of the flue will be flared outwardly, and then employ a beading tool which is fitted into a pneumatic hammer and has its forward end .5 portion engaged with the flared end of the boiler flue or tube so that as the tool is moved circumferentially about the flue while being operated upon by the pneumatic ham- Iner the blows delivered will cause a retaining head to be formed. This has been found unsatisfactory as the use of a mall or the like to initially flare the projecting end portion of the flue is tedious work and requires a great deal of time. Attempts have been made to initially flare the projecting end of the flue with tools now employed to finish the bead, but it has been found impractical as the forward end portions of the tools which engage the projecting end of the flue are of such formation that instead of merely flaring the tube or flue they cut into it and thereby weaken the bead and in addition prevent the formation of a tight joint between the flue and the head of the boiler.

Therefore, one object of the invention is to provide a bead-forming tool of such con struction that it may be employed to initially flare the projecting end of a boiler flue as well as to finish the bead.

Another object of the invention is to so form the forward end portion of the tool that, when it is used to initially flare the projecting end of a boiler flue, it Wlll not tend to split the flue longitudinally and by proper 45 manipulation of the tool the project ng end of the boiler flue may be very easily and quickly flared and then formed into a complete bead.

Another object of the invention is to pro- 5 vide a tool of this character which will be very strong and durable and may be subjected to hard use without being broken or quickly worn out.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein Fig. l is a perspective view showing the tool applied to a projecting end of a boiler flue before the flue has been flared;

Fig. 2 is a view showing a portion of the tool in side elevation and applied to a boiler flue illustrated in longitudinal section, the flue being shown formed with a bead and its initial flared position being indicated by dotted lines; and

Fig. 8 is a sectional view through the tool taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2.

The tool constituting the subject-matter of this invention and indicated in general by the numeral 1 consists of a metal bar which may he of any length desired and is of suflt cient thickness to prevent danger of its being broken when in use. The bar is preferably formed throughout the greater portion of its length with flat side faces so that it may be firmly grasped when in use, but it will be understood that it may be of any shape clesired in cross-section. The rear end portion of the bar from which the tool is formed is reduced to provide a shank 2 which is circular in cross-section and of such length and diameter that it may be received in a pneumatic hammer of a conventional construction. A portion of a hammer with which the tool is used is indicated in Fig. 1 by dotted lines and is designated by the numeral 3. At its forward end the tool is formed with a longitudinally extending tongue t and a shoulder 5 which also extends longitudinah ly of the tool and is spaced from the rear end of the tongue transversely of the tool. The tongue 4 is reduced in width and thickness towards its free forward end, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, and its inner side face is curved longitudinally and transversely so that while this inner face is smooth it is of a convex contour both longitudinally and transversely of the tongue. Therefore, the tongue may be rocked longitudinally and transversely against the inner surface of the walls of a boiler tube. The shoulder 5 is formed with a flat forward end face 6 and is separated from the tongue by a groove 7 which extends transversely across the outer end of the tool. This groove is U-shaped in cross-section with its side walls merging into the inner side of the tongue and shoulder and increased in width and depth towards its ends, as clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 3. By this arrangement the inner wall of the groove will be lon itudinally convened, as shown in Fig. 3, and due to this curvature and the transverse curvature of its walls, there will be no danger of the walls of a boiler flue being split or otherwise damaged when the tool employed to initially flare a boiler flue.

W hen a boiler tube is initially set in place, its end portions project from the heads of the boiler. A portion of a boiler tube or flue to be secured has been shown in Figs. 1 and 2 and indicated by the numeral 8, and a fragment of a boiler head having an opening formed therein through which the tube projects is indicated by the numeral 9. After the boiler fine or tube has been set in place, the bead-forming tool is engaged with the projeeting end of the flue with the tongue l extending into the flue and the flue engaged in the groove 7. As the pneumatic hammer is operated to strike the shank of the tool, the tool is moved eircumferentially about the flue and the blows delivered to the projecting end of the line will initially cause it to be flared outwardly, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2. This is due to the curvature of the walls of the groove and inner side faces of the tongue and shoulder, and it has been previously explained that since the groove gradually increases in width and depth towards its ends there will be no danger of splitting the boiler flue. After the projecting end portion of the boiler flue has been flared, move ment of the tool circumferentially about the flue is continued and this will cause a complete bead to be formed, as shown in full lines in Fig. 2. It should be noted that movement of the tool longitudinally into the boiler flue is limited by the shoulder contacting with the outer face of the boiler head and, therefore, there will be no danger of the head not being properly formed. It should also be noted that since the shoulder is formed with a flat outer end face, there will be no danger of its puncturing the boiler head when it contacts therewith. I have, therefore, provided a tool by means of which the projecting end portion of a boiler line may be initially flared as well as being employed to complete the formation of a bead.

Having thus described the invention, I claim:

1. A boilentube flanger comprising a bar having its rear end portion adapted to be engaged with a'hammer, the forward end of the bar being formed with a longitudinally extending tongue and a transverse shoulder at the rear end of the tongue having a substantially flat free end, the inner side face of the tongue being curved longitudinally and transversely and merging into a groove formed in the end of the bar transversely thereof between the tongue and shoulder, the groove being U-shaped in cross-section and gradually increased in depth towards its ends to provide a convened longitudinally arcuate inner wall for the groove.

2. A boiler-tube flanger comprising a bar having its forward end formed with a longitudinally extending tongue and a shoulder spaced from the rear end of the tongue transversely of the bar, the tongue being reduced in width and thickness towards its free end and having its inner side face curved longitudinally and transversely and merging into a groove formed across the bar between the tongue and shoulder, the said groove being substantially U-shaped in cross-section and gradually increased in depth and width from its intermediate portion to its ends.

3. A boiler-tube flanger comprising a bar having its forward end formed with a longitudinally extending tongue and a shoulder spaced from the rear end of the tongue transv versely of the bar, a groove being formed across the forward end of the bar between the tongue and shoulder, the groove being sub-- stantially U-shaped in cross-section and gradually increasing in depth towards its ends and having its side walls merging into the inner side faces of the tongue and shoulder.

In testimony whereof I my signature.

JAMES R. runsrnnnuae. [n 8. 

